Stags fall at Marist

William S. Paxton

Updated 12:51 am, Monday, March 4, 2013

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Teams like to enter the postseason on a hot streak. The Fairfield Stags arrive on a three-game losing streak.

Chavaughn Lewis led a balanced Marist attack with 24 points and the Red Foxes never trailed in beating the Stags 73-60 in front of 1,680 fans Sunday afternoon at the McCann Arena.

"We've kind of had some (losing skids) five in a row and (now) three in a row," Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said. "But we've bounced back, but it's a little premature to talk about bouncing back right now because we have to learn from the loss and then we'll move on."

Fairfield (17-14, 9-9 MAAC) will be the seventh seed in the MAAC tournament and play No. 10 Saint Peter's in the first round at 9:30 p.m. Friday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. It will be the Stags' first appearance in the play-in round since 2006, an 84-77 loss to Niagara in Tim O'Toole's final game as coach.

The No. 8 Red Foxes (10-20, 6-12) play at 7:30 in the other first-rounder against Siena.

The Stags, who swept the Peacocks in the regular season, had a chance to avoid the first round after Manhattan lost to Loyola, Md., earlier in the day 63-61. They failed to take advantage of the opportunity and now have to win four games in four days to win a championship.

"I've missed a lot of shots," said senior guard Derek Needham, who did not make a field goal until 1:16 left in the game and finished with six points -- four on foul shots -- while going 1-for-9 from the field. "Time to get back in the gym."

The Stags appeared to play their best with Needham out, slicing much of a 12-point Marist lead down to 51-48 on Barrow's jumper with 9:48 remaining. But the Red Foxes answered with a 9-0 run and never lost the double-digit lead again.

The inability to make shots carried over for Fairfield from the Manhattan game, where it tied a school-record low for points in a 34-31 loss.

The Red Foxes, who went just 24-for-44 from the foul line, took advantage of Fairfield's struggles and foul woes all game.

Marist led by as much as 15 points, 34-19, with 3:34 left in the first half. It might have been a larger lead, but the Red Foxes were just 3-for-11 from the foul line and Fairfield closed the half with a 4-0 run to cut its deficit to 34-28.

"We felt better going in, but in the second we came out and we got a lot of quick fouls and no loose balls," Nickerson said. "It caught up to us towards the end."

GAME MVP: Chavaughnn Lewis had 24 points for Marist, which never trailed Sunday in the regular-season finale, which it won 73-60.

KEYS TO DEFEAT: The Stags once again struggled on offense, especially in the first half where they were just 11 of 31 and trailed by as many as 15 points. Derek Needham (six points) turned in a second straight rough outing and did not score a field goal until there was 1:16 left in the game. He finished with six points.